Favorite Layouts 2013

The last three months have been CrAZy-busy, so I haven't really had time to scrap. I got the idea from a friend to share some of my favorite layouts from 2013. Today, I have finally set aside some time to scrap and looking through these layouts gives my mojo a jump-start.

There you have it - my 2013 scrap review. It's funny, most of these layouts were inspired by challenges from Cocoa Daisy and Two Peas in a Bucket. It just reinforces my love for challenges and the way they stretch my creativity. Now that the hustle and bustle of the holiday season is over, I plan to get back in action. Off to check out some challenges... :)

December 2013 Album Cover

I love the current trend of typography on chalkboard, it seems to be popping up everywhere. I thought it would be fun to incorporate that look into my December album. I just finished it tonight and I LOVE it! I'm just going to post a quick pic tonight and will do a more detailed blog post about the techniques I used later in the week.

Cold weather is headed our way tomorrow, I guess this project will help me accept the fact that winter is coming soon.

Prepping for December Album

I finally have all my goodies gathered to begin creating my December 2013 album. I'm going back to an 8.5"x11" format because it's the perfect size for me, not too big and not too small. I ordered Cocoa Daisy's December and DITL (Day In The Life) kits for my basic foundation. Of course I had to purchase a few things that caught my eye, added some things from my stash, and I'm ready to create!

Just seeing all these festive products together puts me in the mood for the holiday season and creating. :)

Crop Mojo

There's nothing like a Cocoa Daisy crop to get my mojo running. The design team has 14 amazing challenges to choose from, the hardest part is deciding where to start! Yesterday I was able to complete three challenges and I'm planning to do more this week (in between a crazy-busy schedule, of course!). First up is Emily's stitching challenge. I machine-stitched the title to the page and used the gorgeous twine from CD's October kit to stitch the heart. This beautiful photo was taken by S. Hankins, how lucky am I that a professional photographer just happened to be trick-or-treating with us?

Next up is Stephanie's challenge to scrap about you. I don't do many layouts about me, so I took this opportunity to write a little note to myself and tucked it away in the glassine envelope.

My last project for the day was Alissa's Project Life style of scrapping. This was the most challenging to me because divided page protectors freak me out! lol This little two-pager took much more time and energy to create than I could have imagined. Hats off to all the PL style of scrappers, it's hard work!

The crop was so much fun (I finally won the Bingo game!!), the creative energy on the board is amazing. If you're still interested in completed the challenges, you have until Nov. 8th to get the uploaded at CD.

Fall Mini Album

When I received the October Cocoa Daisy kit, I had to create something right away. I thought I would be fun to make a fall mini album and just add snapshots throughout the season. I stated with a Simple Stories Snap album, stamps (Cocoa Daisy and Studio Calico), inks, and embossing powder.

I like for my title page to set the tone and feel of the album so I wanted to include all the gorgeous colors from the kit (and fall, of course!). I still had some items in my stash from last year's fall kit and it blends perfectly with the brand new product.

For the October divider page, I used a leaf stencil and several shades of Mister Huey's to capture all the gorgeous fall colors. I then used a Zig embossing pen to highlight the veins of the leaves and various shades of embossing powder. I LOVE how this page turned out.

Now all I have to do is kick back and enjoy my favorite season! There are lots of fun, fall activities coming up and I can't wait to experience and capture those moments. It's gorgeous, but cold, here this morning. When it warms up a bit, I plan to get out and enjoy the sound of crunchy leaves. Thanks for stopping by, have a lovely weekend!

Nesting for Fall

We've had a glorious Fall so far (a welcome change from our rainy summer!) and I've been doing little projects to welcome the season. Here is a simple centerpiece I made today and it makes me feel warm and cozy just looking at it.

Last week I found some fabulous, painted windows at a local craft fair and snatched them up instantly. I've been looking for something to hang on either side of a photo of our children and the windows were perfect. The panes already had clear photo holders attached! The hardest part was deciding which photos to print. I searched in my attic and found two gold buffet lamps and decided a little spray paint would give them a completely different vibe. Here is the before:

I still needed a couple of accessories, so I went to my favorite local shop (Sophie's) and found just what I needed. Click on this photo to see the completed project.

Every day when we walk by this, it's a gentle reminder to have a thankful heart. I think I'm almost done nesting for Fall. On tomorrow's agenda is our first bonfire and perhaps baking our first pumpkin pies of the season. Thanks for stopping by, wishing you a lovely fall, filled with your favorite people and things! ♥

Blast From the (Scrappy) Past

If you've been scrapbooking for a few years, you may remember the Making Memories Tag Maker. It's one of those tools that I "had" to have and used only a couple of times. The other day I happened upon this forgotten tool in my drawer along with all the neglected tag shapes. Since frames are all the rage these days, I thought it would be fun to use the tag shapes as frames. Currently Cocoa Daisy has a challenge to create a layout using Alissa's style. As I was looking through her gallery, I was inspired by a layout she created using stamped frames. I decided this challenge would be a perfect match for me to use the tag maker. Here are some of the shapes. Initially I thought I would spray paint the tags, but as the layout started coming together, I realized the silver looked great with the color scheme I had chosen.

Talk about falling in love with something all over again. I now need to search the web to acquire more of these little cuties. I have lots of ideas spinning around in my crafty head. :)

Combining Old and New Products

Glitter Girl's challenge this week was to take older products and combine with new and see what happens. Sounds like a fun challenge to me. I started with photos from 2010. For some reason, I had never scrapped these adorable winter photos. I had some Pink Paislee Snow Day collection squirreled away in my stash that worked perfectly with the photos. For the "new", I added enamel dots, puffy heart stickers, a We R chalkboard journaling card, and some washi tape.

Such a fun layout! What a great way to use some older stash and make it fresh and new. I think I should challenge myself to do this weekly.

We are having the perfect fall morning here, I think I'm going to get outside and enjoy it! Thanks for stopping by, have a lovely weekend!

Amazing Places

I've been wanting to do a travel album for quite some time. I knew it was going to take some work to gather all the photos from our many years together. To keep it simple, I just picked a few highlight photos from five vacations. (Actually six trips, because I added a couple of photos from my husband's visit to The Great Wall.) I started with a Basic Grey Capture album and the world stamp from Cocoa Daisy as my jumping point. I titled it, "Amazing Places" because that's how I feel about each of these locations. I mixed brand new products with some really old stuff from my stash and I truly love how this project came together. If you'd like to see the details, click on the photos to enlarge.

What a trip down memory lane! I still need to add my journaling, but the hard part is done. After completing this, I feel humbled and grateful for this amazing journey called "life" - I just want to appreciate each and every moment. I've also been bitten by the travel bug! lol